Appleton Boy Scouts back home after harrowing, heroic trip; 2 injured troop leaders stay at Missouri hospital

While two Appleton-based Boy Scout troops that were aboard an Amtrak train when it crashed and derailed Monday have made it home, two injured adults with the group will stay at a hospital in Columbia, Missouri.

None of the 15 Boy Scouts or seven troop leaders, from troops 12 and 73, who were on the train had life-threatening injuries, said Scott Armstrong, director of national media relations for the Boy Scouts of America.

The two leaders are the only members of the group staying behind in Missouri "until they're in a more stable condition to travel," Armstrong told The Post-Crescent.

After a day of uncertain travel plans, Amtrak organized a charter flight for the Scouts from Columbia to Green Bay. The Scouts reunited with their families around 6:45 p.m. Tuesday.

The Amtrak train, carrying 275 passengers and 12 crew members, was traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago when it struck a dump truck at a public crossing in Mendon, a rural part of north-central Missouri near Columbia, around 12:42 p.m. Eight cars and two locomotives derailed, Amtrak said.

Four people were killed in the crash, including the dump truck driver. The fourth death was announced Tuesday. The Missouri State Highway Patrol said about 150 people were taken to 10 area hospitals with injuries ranging from minor to serious.

After the crash, the Boy Scouts, ranging in ages from 14 to 17, administered first aid to several injured passengers, including the driver of the dump truck.

The two troops had been returning from a 10-day trip to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico that included a seven-day backpacking trek.

Dan Skrypczak, scoutmaster for Troop 73, was not on the trip but has been in regular contact with the group. He said at least three of the 15 Scouts "had to deal with the trauma of dealing with actual victims of the crash."

All the Scouts aboard the train, Skyrpczak said, found ways to help. After the crash, they remained calm, preventing others aboard the train who were panicking from moving injured passengers who may have been suffering from spinal injuries.

Scouts who were triaged by medical teams were not able to return back to the crash site to continue to help — but they spent time entertaining and playing with children and toddlers whose parents were tending to other injured children in the carriages. 

About eight Scouts who remained on site until the train evacuation was complete worked to move debris out of the way in derailed carriages so the EMTs could more easily get to the passengers who were trapped and unable to move, Skrypczak said.

Skrypczak's 15-year-old son Eli tended to the truck driver before he died, working to provide aid and comfort.

"All of those boys that were there, to the extent that they were allowed to, really impressed a lot of folks. As their scout master, I'm incredibly proud. They all stayed calm, and were part of the solution rather than adding to the chaos," Skyrpczak said. "Our prayers and thoughts are, of course, with the families of the now four confirmed victims."

Counselors from the Appleton Area School District will be available for all of the Scouts after their return home, Skrypczak said.

Passenger Larry Brown commended the scouts for helping others get out of the train.

“Very mature for their age,” Brown told Kansas City TV station KCTV Monday. “Whatever they are teaching them in the Scouts, it paid off today.”

All 15 kids and seven adults were evaluated Monday at four different hospitals. Three adults and one Scout were admitted to hospitals overnight, Skrypczak said. The Boy Scout and one of the troop leaders were discharged Tuesday.

The Boy Scouts spent Monday night at a hotel in Columbia. Local families involved with the Great Rivers Council of Boy Scouts located in Columbia, Missouri, stepped up to help the Appleton troops after Sarah Berken, whose son Isaac was on the trip, connected with parents over Facebook. 

The local Scout families provided food and water Monday night, breakfast and lunch Tuesday, and supplies like clothing and toiletries, since many bags and supplies remained on the derailed train.

John Fabsits, the Scout Executive/CEO for the Boys Scouts of America Great Rivers Council in Columbia, Missouri, credited "the power of social media" and the connection of Scout families around the world for their ability to connect so quickly after the crash and find out what support was needed.

"When you think about the Scout law, one of the big things in there is being helpful, and that's exactly what our local Scouts are doing," Fabsits said.

Trying to get the troops back home has been an ordeal, Skrypczak said. A group of parents were expecting to board a charter bus at 1 a.m. Tuesday, only to find out that the bus never came. Some parents considered driving to Missouri to pick up the Scouts themselves, but decided not to after a traumatic and stressful day.

Berken said the Boy Scout families found out about the crash shortly after it happened when they received a text from one of the troop leaders aboard the train. The leader, however, could not confirm that all the troops were accounted for.

"It was an unbelievable moment that I would not wish upon anybody. It was fear instantly," Berken said.

Berken tried calling her son Isaac, but didn't get a call back until about an hour later. Isaac had lost his phone as soon as the train crashed, she said.

On Tuesday, Scout families were in touch with Amtrak. Multiple travel plans changed throughout the day, Berken and Skrypczak said, before Amtrak scheduled the troops' charter flight.

Skrypczak said he is proud of the troops for living up to the promise of helping other people at all times in the Scout oath.

"More and more stories are coming out about how well these kids did under duress — (we're) just really proud of everything they were able to accomplish on the scene," Armstrong said. "I've always thought, if the going gets tough, having a Scout troop or two around makes things a lot easier, and they certainly proved it yesterday."

While the Boy Scouts sprung into action aboard the derailed train, Berken said the troop members "don't feel that they're heroes," and noted that everyone aboard the train helped each other out after the disaster.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators were at the scene Tuesday, trying to determine how the accident happened and why the truck was on the tracks.

A Missouri Department of Transportation plan released this year cited a need to improve safety at the rail crossing, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

Local residents have complained that the overgrowth of brush and the steep incline from the road to the tracks makes it hard to see oncoming trains from either direction. 

Mike Spencer, who grows corn and soybeans on land surrounding the intersection, said the crossing is especially dangerous for those driving heavy, slow farm equipment.

Earlier this month, Spencer posted a video on Facebook of the crossing that shows the steep gravel incline leading up to it.

“We have to cross this with farm equipment to get to several of our fields,” Spencer wrote with the posting. “We have been on the RR for several years about fixing the approach by building the road up, putting in signals, signal lights or just cutting the brush back.”

Rebecca Loroff and the Associated Press contributed to this report.